Interchangeable letter



T. N; EVENS.

INTERCHANGEABLE LETTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1 920.

Patented Feb. 7,1922

AY/y.

' .THoM- s NELSON EVENS, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

INTER-CHANGEAIBLE LETTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

Application filed August 4, 1920. Serial No. 401,210.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L, 1313.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS NELSON Evens, a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain andIreland, and resldent of 4 Eagle Street, London, W. C. 1., England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Interchangeable Letters, (for which I filed an application in England July 8th, 1916, No. 104812,) of which the following is a specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

the like notices or display boards of the kind in which removable letters, figures and signs are slidably mounted upon a back or base which is furnished with grooves or passages, adapted to take projections on the back of the letters orequivalents, for the purpose of supporting them in alignment on the said back or base.

My invention applies particularly to that type of device in which the letters or equivalent are attached to spacing bars adapted to slide in the said rooves and the particular feature of the invention is that whilst the spacing bar may be of any suitable kind the support from it to the letter, instead of being wide like the barand visible from the front is narrow, so as to be practically in visible, bein covered 'by' the width of the letter, there y greatly enhancing the appearance of the appliance, and in addition to this,-'the said narrow support is of such length as will hold the letter or figure away from the board.

A simple form of my invention is shown with some modifications in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1. shows a base or back having front formed of wood or other strips a between which are narrow slits b enlarged into tubelike openings 0. This front is supported by a piece of solid wood or other suitable material (Z. This figure shows one of the forms of letters 7 used and its means of support. This support comprises a flat strip 9 attached to bar it. The bar it is a close fit in the tube-like opening 0 whilst the strip 9.

This invention'relates to advertising and pretty closely fits the slot 1) but is distinctly longer than the depth of the slot so that it holds the letter away from the face of the board or base.

Fig. 2. illustrates another form of back or base made of say thin wood or card strips 2', j, and k.

Figs. 3. and 4; show a letter suitable for use on the back or base shown in Fig. 2.

Like reference letters are used in Figs. 3 and 4, for substantially like parts as those used in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, shows a letter 7 with spacing bar and stri formed from one piece of sheet metal. 11 all these examples the supporting strips are attached to the letters about midway between the upper and lower edges. Spacing bars without letters and of substantially known forms such as shown in Figs. 6. and 7 may be used if desired for forming margins and other spacing purposes. Any suitable form of letter, figure, words signs or equivalents may be employed. The end of the openings 0 may be closed by plugs or equivalents.

ters Patent is 1. In combination, a base formed with 7 parallel passages having slots extending from said passages and through one surface of the base, formed characters having bars of a size to fit in said passa es, and strips connecting said bars and characters, said bars being of greater length than the width of the character to form spaces between the characters when assembled, said strips engaging in the slots and being wholly concealed by a portion of the character and'being of a length exceeding the depth of the slot with which it cooperates, whereby to hold the characters in spaced relation with reference to the face of the base.

2. In combination, a base formed with parallel passages having slots extending from said passages and through one surface of the base, formed characters having longibled, and strips connecting the characters In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my and the bars and engaging 1n the slots, said hanct in presence of two witnesses,

stri s being of a length exceeding the depth THOMAS NELSON EVENS. of t e slot with which they cooperate, where- Witnesses: 5 by to hold the characters in spaced relation EWART F ANKMATHIAs,

with reference to the 'face of the base. RICHARD J OHN LAKE. 

